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Information Does Not Exist?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the that-explains-a-lot-of-things dept.

Anonymous Junkie writes "Here is a piece of academic research publised in this month's 'Journal of Knowledge Research' claiming that Information Does Not Exist. The abstract is available freely online. The wording is a little too scholarly for me but it looks like a worthwhile read. I wonder what this new revelation holds for librarians and IT folks."

46 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. 404 by PMJ2kx · · Score: 4, Funny

    Information not found.

    1. Re:404 by Tackhead · · Score: 1
      > Information not found.

      Nothing exists to see here. If I existed and I thought you also existed, I'd ask you to move along.

  2. nth Post by cybercobra · · Score: 1, Funny

    Well, at least I tried.
    It was today, or never

    1. Re:nth Post by dgatwood · · Score: 1
      n+kth post.

      What? What do you mean 'I missed it'? For what value of k?

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  3. If info does not exist, then logically.... by the_sidewinder · · Score: 2, Funny

    there is no spoon

    --
    /. is not to be used by individuals with high blood pressure or a history of heart attacks
  4. STOP IT!!! by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 1, Funny


    Must....kill...slashdot....editors...
    </k irk>

  5. WOAH... by Kr3m3Puff · · Score: 1

    Commander Taco is going a bit crazy... there are still 7 articles in the Myterious Future... There are more articles than post now... Singal to noise ration going way way way low.

    --
    D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
    1. Re:WOAH... by fantom2000 · · Score: 1

      He's only doing it to piss off the people who dump on him all the time. You guys need to learn when to stfu.

  6. Rediculous by Rylz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seriously, this is getting rediculous. Last year, there were jokes, but they weren't every 3 minutes...

    --
    Sometimes you've gotta roll the hard six.
    1. Re:Rediculous by numbware · · Score: 1
      but they weren't every 3 minutes...

      yah, taco should atleast give himself 20 minutes for recoil.

      --
      I'm going to go create my own technology news site, with blackjack and hookers. You know what? Forget the news site.
  7. Of course by m50d · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anyone who has tried to read slashdot today can see that there is no information at all.

    --
    I am trolling
  8. If Information doesn't exist... by GillBates0 · · Score: 1

    What wants to be free?

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  9. Its all true... by D-Cypell · · Score: 1

    Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

  10. Just a few more hours of Aprils Fools Day left by jab5915 · · Score: 1

    Thank God!

  11. It's true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    not on slashdot today anyway

  12. In the words of Jebediah Springfield by SparksMcGee · · Score: 1
    "via an interaction among the cromulent a priori of epiphenomenal knowledge management"

    It would appear that the mad trend toward embiggening words as one can has reached even the hallowed halls of tk421.net...

  13. Dupe! by chill · · Score: 1

    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/01/171521 8&tid=119

    The one article you wouldn't have thought was possible to dupe...

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  14. The article information by MatthewNewberg · · Score: 2

    I had a hard time pulling up the article, here is what came up after 5 minutes. I want my time back. Abstract We proffer an epistemological, ontological, and ecumenical analysis of the informatics zeitgeist surrounding librarians and so-called information scientists. A fuzzy systems tautomerism and transformative hermeneutic lexiae with stemming metadata shows that behind an axiometric normalization of mutually reinforcing moieties, institutionalized metaphors, and naïve liturgical dogmas lies nothing more than gormandized aphorisms and pseudoscientific quanta. This endemic helix permeates the koans of nacirema determinates and quidditative paradigms alike. The operationalized gestalt is collapsed, as with its photonic counterpart, via an interaction among the cromulent a priori of epiphenomenal knowledge management and the parsimonious lorem ipsum of atomistic artificial intelligence and its ilk. Neither the nascent yet positivist hyperliteracy movement nor the transactive pedagogical convergence of jingoistic multiliteracies possess the constituent wherewithal for explicating the existence of information per se or affirming the verstehende of contemporary librarianship; you can't eat your cake and have it too. Ramifications for string theory and consciousness studies are also addressed.

    --
    mnewberg.com
  15. "Information Does Not Exist?" by ro_coyote · · Score: 1

    Well, maybe on Slashdot anyway.

    Ba-dum-bum-tshhhh!!

  16. I like it by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

    Stop complaining, we get this nonsense once a year
    I just hope they make as much of an effort on Talk Like a Pirate Day :D

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

    1. Re:I like it by sepluv · · Score: 1

      I don't which planet you've been on--maybe that strange parallel universe called RL--but last time I checked we get a slightly less obvious form of nonsense throughout the year.

      --
      Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
      [This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
    2. Re:I like it by yet+another+coward · · Score: 1

      Once a year leaves only 364 days for the usual nonsense.

    3. Re:I like it by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      I decided I like it when, when reading the abstract, which is completely obfuscated and illegible, I stumbled upon the word "cromulent". Marvelous!

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    4. Re:I like it by imcleod · · Score: 1

      On a slightly more obscure note, I had the same reaction upon finding the word "nacirema".

  17. Further proof by UnCivil+Liberty · · Score: 1

    clearly supported by one of today's Slashdot stories: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/01/171521 8&tid=119

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  18. Re:Quote from slashdot by Dorsai42 · · Score: 1

    Not just SOME kind of joke, an April Fools kind of joke. Get with it

    --
    If you forget about the future, the future will forget about you.
  19. Interesting postulate by murderlegendre · · Score: 1

    Of course I haven't read TFA, but the concept of "Information" is pretty nebulous, as there is no absolute measure of being informed - it's purely subjective. However, "Data" does exist, and knowledge is power.. so there.

    --
    There's a Starman, waiting in the sky / He'd like to come and meet us, but he hasn't got the time.
    1. Re:Interesting postulate by poopdeville · · Score: 1

      Don't be idiotic. Pick up a book on information theory.

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
  20. If the article is correct... by fm6 · · Score: 1

    ...then the article itself does not exist. Sounds like Epimenides is making trouble again!

  21. Why not... by TopSpin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...dupe the "French Response to Google is Microsoft" thing? It's indistinguishable from an actual April Fools.... joke.

    o.O

    --
    Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
  22. is it already slashdotted? by Pinefresh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    mirrordot doesn't seem to have it either.

  23. Does it mean by SquadBoy · · Score: 1

    that I get to go home early and play PS2?

    --

    Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
  24. Sokal affair comparison by yupie · · Score: 1

    Still, not as good and subtle as the Sokal Affair, aka the "Social Text Affair" (in 1996), see http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/

    --
    Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 120 chars)
  25. "Add to Cart" by wuzoe · · Score: 2, Funny

    I, for one, clicked "Add to Cart" for the full text, and am quite satisfied that I did.

    Well, not that I got anything, information not existing and all, but just like religion and time, I prefer living by the old fallacies ....

    PS: Lord Helmet?? Is that you? It's been a long time ...

    --

    --Wuzoe

    I'm a nice person. People like me.

  26. The phone number by SolusSD · · Score: 1

    the phone number listed at the bottom of the page is "The White House". Jokes on them .;)

  27. LOL by happymedium · · Score: 1

    As funny as the block of nonsense text in the abstract is, don't neglect to look at the authors: "Jack Napier, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, Seto Kaiba and Yuffie Kisaragi."

    Seto Kaiba is from YuGiOh and Yuffie Kisaragi is from the venerable Final Fantasy VII (one of the highlights of my adolescence). I did a Google search on Jack Napier and it returned some highly questionable results. IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0621023/ confirms that he is a porn star.

  28. I'd comment, but I can't download the article..... by 1iar_parad0x · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Either information exists or it doesn't.

    Say that we have evidence that information does not exist. Then, it can only be expressed through information.

    However, if there is evidence that information doesn't exist, then the only real explanation is that we lack the proper language to express that information. Thus, with no proper language to adequately express itself, information appears to not exist.

    This reminds me of an anecdote about the famous mathematician G. H. Hardy (it's been credited to others as well):

    Hardy once said that he could prove anything if it given a contradiction to begin with. McTaggart denied the consequence: "if 2+2=5, how can you prove that I am the pope?" Hardy replied: "if 2+2=5, 4=5; subtract 3; then 1=2; but McTaggart and the pope are two; therefore McTaggart and the pope are one."

    In other words, Hardy argued, and most philosophers would agree, given one false idea or inconsistency you can prove anything.

    --
    What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
  29. Come on... by blmatthews · · Score: 1

    that's so obvious. The things people get away with publishing these days...

  30. This actually should read... by papaskunk · · Score: 1

    Cannot find intelligence. http://www.somethingawful.com/nointelligence/index .htm

  31. Look at the authors... by Bloodlent · · Score: 1

    Jack Napier-Pornstar Seto Kaiba-Yugi-Oh Character Yuffie Kisaragi-FF7 Character I thought that was clever, the rest was lame.

  32. Price of non-information by Quasar5150 · · Score: 1

    Anyone notice that you can buy the whole article for the curious price of $42?

  33. Hidden Reference by Artifakt · · Score: 4, Informative

    The abstract is not only false, it is exceptionally information dense, with many rather esoteric references. For example, it uses the word nacirema, an apparent nonsense word that is actually american spelled backwards.
    This likely comes from a classic parody scientific article "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" from American Anthropologist 58:3, June 1956, Reprinted in "A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown". Here we have an April Fool that refers to other April Fools.
    I have counted 147 such references in this one abstract alone, which is over twice the old world record for an abstract based April Fool and will place /. firmly in the Guiness book next year. I was very pleased to be able to demonstrate mathematically that this record was a theoretical maximum and will thus stand forever, although the proof is too long to be contained in this post.

    --
    Who is John Cabal?
  34. The Chebakka Defence by rugwuk · · Score: 1

    They use the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defence chewbacca defence this does not make sense.

    --
    Its one damn thing before another. (Dick Bird 1999)
  35. 147? Not quite by tiltowait · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wow that's a lot -- I can only see a few dozen, and I wrote it. A few are mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but I doubt anyone has caught them all. I'd list them all in the margin here but there's not enough room.

    364 days a year I send out a Library Link of the Day, but like CmdrTaco here, on 4/1 I have a bit of fun.

    1. Re:147? Not quite by Artifakt · · Score: 1

      That's modern literary criticism for you. Deconstructing a text always reveals a myriad of things that prove the deconstructor is cleverer than the mere author. If it doesn't, we deconstruct it again. Sometimes we find things that aren't even there. Just be glad I wasn't looking for OEdipal tendencies this time.
      Seriously, I don't suppose you'ld be willing to mention some of the ones nobody has found yet? Or is that grist for next year's April 1st mill?

      --
      Who is John Cabal?
  36. The gag appears to be up again by jfengel · · Score: 1

    When I looked yesterday the joke appeared to be the rather weak gag that an article titled "information does not exist" gave a blank page or 404. I think that was just server failure.

    The gag itself is back up now. And it concludes with:

    The full text article is available for purchase

    $41.62

    It's worth clicking on the "Add to cart" button.